Yet another collegiate ski program is on the chopping block. Due to budget shortfalls in Minnesota, the St. Cloud State University cross-country ski program could be shuttered by the 2011-2012 season. The closure of that program is included in one of three cost-cutting measures being considered by university administrators, who will make a decision by December 6th. “After the last couple of years, when a bunch of schools out west have gone down, it’s not...
You may not have heard of Len Valjas, but if you were at a NorAm or a SuperTour where he was racing this winter, you would have noticed – there aren’t many cross-country skiers who stand at 6’6″. The 22-year-old Canadian who skis as a member of the Pierre Harvey National Training Center (CNEPH), based in Quebec City, Quebec may not be a household name yet, but this past winter he posted a top-10 result...
On the weekend of September 17-19, the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) hosted a Nordic Symposium with an impressive lineup of presenters, including Zach Caldwell, former Canadian National Team Leader Dave Wood, former US Ski Team coach Pat Casey, Stratton Mountain School Program Director Sverre Caldwell,and NENSA Executive Director Pat Cote, among others. The event, held in Waltham, Massachusetts, outside of Boston, was attended by over 40 coaches, athletes, and presenters, and it covered...
“For me, having a famous sibling is solely a bonus,” says Karstein Johaug, the younger brother of Olympic ski racer Therese Johaug. The 18-year-old has the 2012 World Junior Championships podium in mind, and he has a plan in place for getting there.
It’s official: Kikkan Randall, Andy Newell, and Kris Freeman will all compete in the 2011 Tour de Ski. U.S. Ski Team (USST) coaches have confirmed that the Americans will send three athletes to this winter’s race, which features eight stages at four different European venues. That triples the American presence over last year, when Newell completed four stages before dropping out. In an interview, Randall said that she was excited to get a start in...
Langrenn.com is now owned by Nilsen Support, while former co-owner and managing editor Trond Harald Sand and reporter Ivar Haugen formally left the company on September 1, 2010.
SWEDEN – Petter Northug is not allowed to write autographs or meet the fans during the 2011 World Championships in Oslo. That approach doesn’t appeal to Sweden’s top skier Marcus Hellner. He welcomes the public and wants lots of action at the venue, and promises to sign autographs.
The Canadian National Ski Team’s tour of North American continues this weekend, as the squad arrives in Utah for a three-week altitude camp. The Canadians are invading Park City, home base of the U.S. Ski Team, and they’ll have ample opportunity for cross-pollination. Kikkan Randall will be living and training with the Canadians for the entirety of their stateside stint, and Morgan Smyth, Katie Ronsse, Liz Stephen, Morgan Arritola, James Southam and Noah Hoffman will...
Nikolai Pankratov’s reported detainment at the Swiss border made waves in the cross-country skiing community when the news broke last week. But since then, there’s been barely a ripple of information to emerge from the International Ski Federation (FIS)—which, according to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, is in charge of handling the case. What is known about Pankratov is this: according to multiple reports, the Russian cross-country skier was stopped at the Swiss border with intravenous...
OSLO, NORWAY – Jørgen and Anders Aukland, Jörgen Brink, Jens Arne Svartedal and Sandra Hansson. They’ll all be on the start line as the 10K uphill roller ski time trial in Oslo gets underway today, Thursday.
The Norwegian biathlon web site Strafferunden.no got their hands on the new Rottefella binding set to launch officially in over a week.
SWEDEN - Two of the biggest favorites for the Oslo 2011 World Championships are choosing different ways to peak for the events in February/March: Charlotte Kalla (SWE) chooses to race the Tour de Ski again, while rival Marit Bjoergen (NOR) chooses the same plan as she did for the 2010 Olympics and skips the Tour.
Unlike some of her peers, like Americans Simi Hamilton and Ida Sargent, Brittany Webster’s rise has not been meteoric. She’s never been on the podium at a major international race, and she has only contested four World Cups—all of which were in her home country of Canada. She doesn’t even have her own website like many of her compatriots—just a plain, infrequently updated blog on WordPress. But of all the North American athletes competing in...
Nikolai Pankratov’s fate will be decided by the International Ski Federation (FIS), FasterSkier learned Thursday. FIS officials have refused to acknowledge the existence of a case against the Russian cross-country skier, who reportedly was caught at the Swiss border last week with intravenous equipment and 22 vials of Actovegin, a suspicious—but not banned—drug. But in an e-mail to FasterSkier on Thursday, Russia Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Deputy Director Igor Zagorskiy confirmed that Pankratov’s alleged violations fell...
Adam St. Pierre is an exercise physiologist at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. He is also the head coach of the Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team. In this article, St. Pierre outlines a strategy for athletes to gradually implement technique changes. Technique is an important component of cross-country skiing, but it is often difficult for athletes to make technique modifications once their motions have become habitual. As coaches, we often find...
Actovegin is not a new drug on the Eastern European arena. Former Norwegian biathlon team director Kjell Ove Oftedal, found a glass vial of Actovegin next to a Russian wax trailer during a World Cup race in 2006.
No one could ever accuse the Canadian National Ski Team of a lack of variety in their training locations–this summer alone, the team has held camps in Bend, Oregon, the Snow Farm in New Zealand, and the Haig Glacier. The current camp, however, has the team training in Mount Saint Anne, Quebec, home of Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member Alex Harvey. According to Justin Wadsworth, the CNST’s head coach, the focus of this particular...
The National Guard, consisting of Army Soldiers and Air Force Airmen, sponsors a biathlon program that is headquartered at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site (CEATS) in Jericho, VT. The “mission” of the program is to represent the National Guard and the United States Armed Services in national and international biathlon competitions, to include World Cup and Olympic events, while simultaneously developing the highest levels of skiing and rifle marksmanship necessary to improve the combat...
NORWAY - Langrenn.com’s exclusive interview with Nikolay Pankratov from September 2, 2010, reveals a universe of difference between Norwegian and Russian training culture.
Kevin Sweeney was at the helm the last time that the University of Utah won an NCAA skiing championship, in 2003. So it’s only logical that the Utes would turn to Sweeney to help them win their next one. Sweeney’s appointment as Utah’s new director of skiing was announced yesterday by Associate Athletic Director Mary Bowman. Sweeney makes his return to the University after five years as the nordic race director for Swix Sport USA....